The Falcons' 8-8 record last year was a disappointment for a couple of reasons. First, because the Falcons had that magical rookie season under Mike Smith, the team's previous head coach, where they rebounded from a lousy, Bobby Petrino-ridden year to make the playoffs. Second, because the team started 5-0 and then utterly collapsed, which sucked. A lot.
Still, I hadn't really thought about how Dan Quinn's first year stacked up against his historical counterparts, so I decided to run the numbers. The list you see below doesn't include any interim coaches, and in the case of Marion Campbell, we only went with his first stint with the Falcons.